TBS analyst Darling picks Lucroy for NL MVP

Turner Sports baseball analyst Ron Darling made his choices for mid-season awards and named Milwaukee Brewers in two categories.

Darling picked Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy as the midseason MVP in the National League. He went with Mike Trout of the Angels in the American League.

Darling chose Ron Roenicke for manager of the year in the NL and Bob Melvin of the A's in the American League.

The Cardinals at Brewers game at 2 p.m. July 13 will be carried on "Sunday MLB on TBS."

Ernie Johnson and Darling are scheduled to call the game. Under MLB's new TV rights deal, the telecast will be available to viewers in the Milwaukee market. Under the fold deal, the TBS telecast would have been blacked out locally.

The other mid-season MLB marvels, according to Darling:

■ AL Cy Young: Felix Hernandez, Mariners

■ NL Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers

■ AL Rookie of the Year: Masahiro Tanaka, Yankees

■ NL Rookie of the Year: Billy Hamilton, Reds.

Food for thought

You kind of understand why ESPN televises the national spelling bee. Cute, smart kids spelling impossibly tough words can make for good television.

But competitive hot dog eating? Is that so much a part of Americana that it deserves a national audience and commands television rights?

Frankly, it does.

ESPN announced Tuesday it had reached agreement with Major League Eating to provide the exclusive network rights to the Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest each year through 2024.

The new agreement is a 10-year extension of the current deal.

The contest is held in Coney Island in New York and "attracts top eating talent from around the world," according to ESPN.

The world record is held by Joey Chestnut of San Jose, Calif., who consumed 69 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes and who is seeking an eighth straight title this year.

The 100-pound Sonya Thomas, who consumed 39 hot dogs and buns last year, is to defend her title as female champ.

Oldies, not newbies

The president of the Big Ten Network, Mark Silverman, was part of a press event Monday in Washington to mark the entry of Maryland and Rutgers into the Big Ten Conference.

"We need to come on the air as if these schools have been part of the Big Ten forever," Silverman told the Baltimore Sun.

A network spokesman said BTN will televise about 20 Maryland men's basketball games.

Silverman said the network is in the process of hiring more game announcers.

Silverman said he does not want BTN, which is in about 52 million households in the U.S. and Canada, to be viewed "as only a promotional mouthpiece" for the league.